South Asia and shadow of Afghanistan

By MADHAV P KHANAL

For over five decades the political arena of South Asia has been frequently  dominated by India and Pakistan with their occasional head-on collisions primarily precipitated by the Kashmir dispute. Ever since the political unity, the main benefit of British colonialism in the subcontinent, was destroyed by partition in 1947 on the basis of a concept which is so reminiscent of the idea of a Jewish ‘homeland’ in Palestine, South Asia has remained under a constant fear of hostilities between a Hindu-dominated India and an Islamic Pakistan, a country created for those Indian Muslims who chose to opt out of the Indian Union under the two-nation theory invented by a few Muslim intellectuals around 1930. However, despite Pakistan becoming a political reality in the summer of 1947, more than hundred million Muslims chose to stay back in India against all odds.

Declaration of independence from foreign domination should have been a joyful occasion to celebrate and an appropriate moment for freedom fighters to reaffirm their pledges for a better life for the people who were suppressed under the colonial yoke for more than a century. However, the independence of India and Pakistan was the saddest occasion marked by a ghastly slaughter of more than half a million people and uprooting of approximately 15 million men, women and children. The psychological rift created by the macabre communal violence between the Hindus and the Muslims at the behest of their respective zealots on the eve of their independence has left a deep scar on their relationship ever since. So much so, the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan frequently appear imbued with religious prejudice and a sense of communal hatred.

The controversial accession of the former princely state of Kashmir to the Indian Union, was in fact, the casus belli for the first inconclusive war between India and Pakistan in 1948 in which the newly created Islamic nation tested its mettle and subsequent results emboldened her to carry on unremitting belligerency against the big brotherly neighbour on its eastern frontier to this date. As such their first confrontation over disputed Kashmir marks the genesis of the conflict-laden relationship between the two leading countries of South Asia. The current military stand off along their disputed but de facto which they prefer to define as a ‘line of control’ may erupt into full scale war any time inviting thereby unpropitious consequences engulfing possibly the entire region.

Having been heavily preoccupied with the ominous clouds of the Cold War in the fifties of the last century the Western powers paid scant attention to the long range geopolitical implications of the Kashmir dispute. Wittingly or unwittingly they dismissed the issue as a localised dispute of bilateral nature. But now, well over five decades later, the western world is realising their mistake which might now cost them a heavy price in the light of both the contenders possessing nuclear weapons as well as sophisticated vehicles to deliver them with high precision. Therefore, with the escalating tensions between the two nuclear rivals of South Asia showing no signs of early remission due to India’s apparent intransigence towards Pakistan’s repeated overtures and their war of words, the looming dangers of confrontation between them do not appear to recede yet. Despite the fact their teeming millions are still living a primitive life due to abject poverty, shocking level of illiteracy and conspicuous absence of basic health care, the leaders of both India and Pakistan leap with joy at their every marked achievement in the arms race, nuclear or conventional.

As a natural consequence of the collapse of the Taliban regime and the overt involvement of the Western powers in forming a coalition among leaders representing a number of traditionally hostile and ethnically incompatible tribal segments in Afghanistan, the dynamics of South Asian diplomacy is bound to undergo a perceptible change sooner or later. Such a policy transformation, if it so happens, will inevitably end up in crystallizing the extent of strategic alliance of the countries of the region with their respective allies within or outside the continent without, of course, affecting their spurious status of being adherents to the sophistic principles of Non-aligned Movement, a political fad among Third World countries.

In fact owing to the circumstances created by the ending of the Cold War and the obvious political vacuum following the demise of the Soviet Union - the foreign policies of several developing countries reflected typical symptoms of ambivalence towards the Western world. For technological partnership and a number of other economic compulsions the Third World was left with no choice but to kowtow to the developed countries; whereas in the wider context of international relations several policies of the latter were bitterly censured for their double standard in respect of various issues that the region had been seriously grappled with.

Today, almost the entire bloc of NATO as well as countries that enjoy Western patronage are determined to reconstruct a country that has been ravaged by internal war or external aggression for over two decades, the latest being the US-led action against the barbaric Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda fanatics. It was the same group of countries which had marginalised a landlocked Afghanistan for so long for its natural fault of not having possessed any strategic attributes, that could have drawn the favourable attention of the Western powers.

As a result, for almost half a century it was the former Soviet Union that provided the much needed technical skills and economic assistance to this largely tribal country for developing its modest infrastructure that has helped it maintain its territorial integrity and identity as a nation state. It is again an ironical coincidence that Russia, which played the pivotal role during the entire life of the Soviet Union and extend unsparing assistance to Afghanistan has now been relegated to the fringes and is made to watch its erstwhile adversaries charting policy and defining the shape of governance of the new republic which falls well within the ambit of its strategic concern.

Even after months of relentless attacks on the possible hideouts of the al-Qaeda terrorists, the US ambition to exterminate them does not seem to have met with much success. But what has transpired so far is that the presence of the US and its allied forces in Afghanistan will be for a relatively longer period than was originally presumed and their mission will not be confined to keeping a vigil on possible nefarious activities of the Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan. They will surely extend their surveillance beyond the frontiers of Afghanistan which borders on five Muslim nations and an important province of China which incidentally has a predominant Muslim population. Under these circumstances South Asia looks a fertile ground for rivalry among nuclear powers along with the gradual revival of the hibernating Indo-Russian axis further strengthened by other emerging powers of the region.

‘Prevention of abuse of authority’

By VINOD ADHIKARY

I recall some lessons taught in my classes; the factors that bring about change in a small organization and a big one in a country. Although there are lots and lots of factors that have caused Nepal to fall way down below the average line.

I’ve come across people talking about corruption and its reasons. If taken a survey keeping the subject in dark, I don’t think there is a single person who has not abused at a workplace his or her authority. I’m ashamed of telling that the one who abuses the authority most is the one who childishly says: "We are here to serve you". He stands in blue pant and blue coat, blowing a whistle and saluting seniors in jeep. He has the tendency of abusing pedestrians and two and four wheel riders. Yes, I’m talking about traffic police.

Once I thought I should visit my friends. I ride bike. It was six in the morning. As usual I took the King’s Way. But I saw a no entry sign to my left. So I took Putalisadak and entered Bagbazar. But I did not meet my friend because he was out. Then, I decided to visit another friend who stayed at Gairidhara. So I went straight and opted an exit by crossing the King’s way, right before the traffic police officer. I saw a traffic policeman standing and staring at me. I thought I wasn’t doing any wrong because he didn’t blow his whistle. So I crossed the street to go to the other side. The traffic policeman suddenly came towards me, asking me to stop. I obeyed him. He turned the key off. I didn’t ask him why he did so because to tell you the truth, I was quite scared of him. I knew I had to be soft to him. The policeman asked me to show him my driving license, so I did. Then, he gave me a chit. I asked him what my mistake was. He replied: "You just crossed the street".

"But you were there staring at me, then you should have told me that the way I was going to take was wrong", was my reply.

He didn’t give a damn, and asked his partner beside him to hand him a pen. I knew they weren’t going to hear me, so I softly asked him for forgiveness to my mistake. He replied, "You have done a blunder, so there is no point in forgiving you". You visit our office at "Durbar Marg", for your license. I still was asking for my license back while he was writing my name in a piece of paper. His partner came to me and told me that I could get my license back only if I paid them a hundred and fifty rupees. I knew he was trying to corrupt me as well. I denied and in my red face, told him, "Are you asking me for ghus, don’t you feel ashamed of asking for ghus freely? If you were hungry then you could have just asked me for a cup of tea, I would have happily let you a cup or a couple." His face was turning red and pale.

"Hand me the ticket, I would get my license from the station. I would be happy to contribute some money to the country than you and your corrupt mind" was my reply. He then handed me the ticket and I followed my way.

The next incident I came across took place the following day when I was on way to saloon. I saw a man bargaining with a traffic policeman. I couldn’t hear them because I was a bit far from them, but I could see the policeman asking the man for some rupees. Both of them went a little further and the traffic policeman handed the driver his driving license. My mind dragged me to curiously watch this moment, the man inserting his hand into the traffic police’s pocket.

I don’t know why these traffic policemen freely abuse authority. Although many actions are taken, by the "Prevention of abuse of authority" of Nepal, they somehow are successful in achieving their mission. Well if higher authorities of Police take these sorts of activities in mind then I hope it wouldn’t take long to prevent Nepal from falling. Do what you say, your slogan, "Jaya Nepal", this is a request to you from all of us, the Nepalese.

Rescuing Nepal from economic mess

By DR KRISHNA R REGMI

It is a general tendency among the ruling parties to misuse their power in an organised manner to win future elections. Appointment of party-affiliated CDOs, police officers, election officers, office chiefs and corporation or departmental executives are made by the ruling government to influence the election results in their favour. Likewise, government or state-owned assets like vehicles, helicopters, airplanes, communications and electronic media like radio and TV are openly misused by the ruling party government to influence election results. With the support of local administrations and hired goondas or party vigilantes, fraudulent practices and coercive actions such as capturing of election booths or ballot papers or changing of ballot boxes etc are practiced by the so called democratic leaders of our country. This kind of election will produce corrupt leaders who will not be accountable to the people and hence the need for an amendment in the present constitution is strongly felt to eradicate this drawback in the present Bihari type of election system.

Possible solution to Maoist problem: Eradication of the Maoist problem through the use of guns or arms is neither possible nor will it be a permanent solution. Genuine efforts to reach an agreeable solution through mutual talks or dialogue will be the only alternative for ending the problem forever. However, as a prerequisite to initiate talks, it behoves both parties, government as well as Maoists, to sincerely observe a cease-fire. Both sides should be sincere enough in their efforts and willingness to come to negotiations and achieve fruitful and lasting results as desired by the country through the implementation of step by step agreements from the grassroots level to the top, keeping in mind that it may take even years to accomplish the complete deal. There is thus need to great patience and perseverance on the part of both negotiating parties including the national parties. No one should make any kind of negative remark and malicious statement out of vested interests that may jeopardize and provoke the delicate situation. Those who stand against the permanent settlement of the problem and restoring of peace and harmony in the country and play the dirty game of power politics, leading the country to civil war, are the traitors of the country and history will never forgive them.

Efficient social, economic and administrative reforms: The opposition parties led by the main opposition (CPN-UML) are demanding some amendments in the constitution so as to ensure free and fair elections, achieve social and economic reforms and thus solve the multifarious and multifaceted problems arising in the country including the Maoist one. These objectives and goals can be achieved through enactment of laws on land reform, equal right of women to parental property, upliftment of tribal and suppressed people, strengthening of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), good administrative reforms, guarantee of fundamental human rights and press freedoms. Due to lack of a well-committed national consensus, enactment of effective and forceful laws on checking corruption and providing social and economic equality to all sections of society has remained a dream. Even after enactment of these bills, the government’s weakness in smooth implementation will mean it makes no difference towards substantial achievements.

What kind of constitutional amendments? The constitution of Bangladesh does not allow the ruling party to remain in power when general elections are to be conducted. They are supposed to hand-over the power to the Chief Justice to conduct general elections. Thus there are more chances that free and fairly elections are held as misuses of government machinery is minimised. However, the leader of the NC party seem to be reluctant over this amendment since they do not have enough moral guts to face the vote and abide by democratic norms and values.

The Bihari culture of capturing election booths and ballot papers through the exercise of muscle power is becoming prevalent in Nepal too. A moral code of conduct needs to be strictly enforced on every political party and its candidates to ensure fairness in the elections. Candidates with past criminal records or connections with the underworld, smugglers and terrorists and people with low education backgrounds should not be allowed to compete, at least for the Lower House of Parliament. Likewise, possession of a home and land or fixed properties in the concerned constituency should also be a prerequisites to be an eligible candidate for that particular constituency so that a person will feel more accountability to the people of his constituency.

Need of a strong opposition: A strong opposition is an integral part of the parliamentary system of democracy, to constantly check whether the government is on the right track or not at the same time, guide it with constructive criticisms in the smooth implementation of programmes and policies. Our country lacks a strong opposition. The NC party should believe in healthy competition for power rather than a monopolistic victory that can make the government more tyrannical and isolate it from the people. The unification of the CPN (UML) and CPN (ML) is expected to provide the country with a strong opposition as well as the possibility of an alternative government at a time of dirty game of power within the ruling NC party which is on the verge of division. The present bone of contention between the parliamentarians/cadres within the ruling NC party indicates that the leaders are always in the filthy game of power politics and they are not serious about the people’s problems.

National consensus or broader democratic alliance? An urgent need of national consensus on major problems of national interest has been felt and talked about quite often by major political parties which tend to blow their own trumpets and do not recognise the voice of others to form a working alliance in the actual sense. As a result, no real national consensus has ever been achieved in practice. The hidden reality behind the slogan of broader democratic alliance raised by former PM G P Koirala is not yet well defined and clearly understood. A broader democratic alliance will be necessary only when the country’s very sovereignty or democracy is at stake or is being threatened by external forces. In the present context of solving an internal domestic problem, a workable national consensus among the parliamentary parties will be enough to bring even the Maoist and other rebel forces into the political mainstream.

To solve once and for all the current social, economic and political problems being faced by the country as a chronic disease, including the Maoists problem a broad national consensus will be needed.

(Concluded)